


Flame And Sword: Celes/Terra Drabbles

by Larathia



Category: Final Fantasy VI
Genre: Community: femslash100, Community: femslashficlets, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-05
Updated: 2016-05-26
Packaged: 2017-12-10 12:39:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 75
Words: 12,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/786150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Larathia/pseuds/Larathia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of drabbles written for femslash100 prompts (and a few prompts thrown at me by others).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. #367 - Fly

The wind blew brisk and cool across the deck of the _Blackjack_ , and Celes absently tugged her white cloak a bit closer about her. The world was broken and damaged even from this height, deserts where there had been green fields and forests.

Terra leaned against her, and Celes opened her cloak to wrap it around Terra's shoulders. "It's never going to be the same," Terra noted sadly.

"But it can be better than it is," Celes replied, putting a light kiss in Terra's hair. "And then, it will be a joy to fly above the world we have restored."


	2. "Shiver"

There had never been much doubt, after their trip through the Magitek facility, that Celes' powers had come from Shiva. Edgar called her the "Ice Queen", but it stuck for more reasons than her disapproval of his flirting. There was living ice in Celes' veins, and perhaps that wasn't natural but she'd learned to live around it.

Terra knew a secret most did not; that ice could love. Silent as winter, soft as falling snow, Terra's body shivered appreciatively under Celes' cool caresses. Underneath the ice wasn't fire - never that - but a passion as firm as midwinter ice.


	3. The End of the World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: "Boom"

The noise had gone beyond merely deafening. The very world was breaking as the power of the Goddesses was unleashed upon it; the air was filled with not only the panicked screams of people, but the thunderous booming cries of tortured continents and the shrieking of unbound winds.

Celes should not have been able to hear Terra's own pained screams over everything else, and part of her insisted she couldn't have. But as her hand missed Terra's while the _Blackjack_ leaped and twisted in the howling winds, her mind insisted on replaying Terra's screams as she fell into the dark.


	4. Sword from Stone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Bless"

Celes held the stone in her hands, looking toward Terra. "Is it...right, to treat the esper in this way?"

"I didn't know him myself," Terra replied, but closed Celes' fingers around the glowing stone. "I can tell you that I don't think he'd mind, under the circumstances. It would mean he didn't die in vain."

Celes nodded, then, and handed the magicite back to the weaponsmith. "Then forge me a sword of this," she said. "And let Ragnarok's power bless our endeavors, that no more of his people be condemned to death."

Terra smiled. "Or humans either," she pointed out.


	5. Stubborn Paladins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Curse"

Celes sat up, one hand clutching a throbbing skull. "What _was_ that?"

Terra sat nearby, Celes' new shield on her lap; her fingers glowed as she conducted her mystical examination. "It's cursed," she said. "It nearly killed you."

"...What good is a cursed shield to us?" sighed Celes. "I thought that bargain sounded a bit too good to be true."

"I think the curse can be broken," said Terra with a small smile. "If you're keen on toughing it out. There's a great deal of power here. The curse is just misdirecting it."

"Then hand it over," said Celes firmly.


	6. A Touch of Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Magic"

There was a part of Celes that found Terra's ideas ...well, she wasn't sure _what_ the right word was. Disrespectful? Blasphemous? Sacreligious? After all - at least one Esper had _died_ so that Celes might enjoy the power of magic as a Magitek Knight. It seemed... _something_... to not bear that in mind when she used the abilities she'd gained.

But for Terra, magic was part of who she was. More than that, a _celebration_ of being who and what she was. And if she wanted to _float_ Celes above the bed, teasing her flesh with shards of _ice_... why not?


	7. So the only entrance is sixty storeys up?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Plan"

"So what we're going to do is, we'll fly the _Falcon_ over the tower, drop down to the upper balconies in three teams, and fight our way down to the lowest levels," said Edgar.

"Why can't we use fire magic to burn our way in _at_ ground level?" asked Terra, frowning. "He's going to have all kinds of traps up there."

"Kefka has put anti-magic wards into the construction of his tower," said Cyan. "The roof is the only access point. By design, certainly."

"I will be on Terra's team," said Celes firmly. "We are not dying of bad plans."


	8. Economical

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #373 - Twist

Celes presented the box without fanfare, as if it were nothing in particular, but the box itself said otherwise. wood encased in velvet, delicately carved, it said very clearly that the contents were a valuable gift indeed.

Terra accepted it with due care, if a little puzzlement, studying Celes' face. 

Opening the lid, Terra gasped. A twist of platinum chain, large enough to wear around the neck, with three star-shaped bangles hanging from its chain. It was magnificent, and priceless.

"It's called a celestriad," said Celes softly. "It should make your magic easier to cast."

Terra put it on, smiling.


	9. Redecorating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Interior"
> 
> ...I missed the deadline on this one, so it's a 'backtrack', and thus 200 words instead of 100.

The interior of the _Blackjack_ was, to Celes' minimalist senses, eye-bleedingly garish. Gold leaf where gilt had no right to be, thick pile carpet in (often clashing) colors, the bright flashing lights of slot games and roulette wheels.

On the other hand, in Maria's sparkly white opera dress, she fitted right in. At least Setzer was _consistent_. You could give him that. 

Quickly, she turned away from the tasteless decor and fished out the coils of rope hidden under her gown. She needed to get the others up here. And if 'persuading' Setzer involved damaging some of these tasteless surroundings - why, so much the better. 

One by one she helped her companions up the slender, sturdy rope, until at last Terra had joined her, with a smile for the gown Celes hadn't had time to wrestle out of. The half-Esper looked around, as delighted with the sparkly decor as Celes had been horrified.

Then leaned over to put a light arm around Celes' waist. "...I promise to accidentally set fire to our quarters?" she offered, quietly teasing.

Meaning Setzer would have to redecorate it. Meaning a _say_ in the replacements. "I owe you," Celes whispered back, in complete agreement.


	10. Hunting the Hunter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Exterior"

Terra murmured, in stunned shock, "...He really did it."

No one in the group was handling it any better. In the middle of monster-filled nowhere, a grand - _massive_ \- stone edifice rose. Proud, majestic, and utterly isolated. 

"The first test is finding it," Celes observed quietly. "I thought the man was raving. Where did he find -" and stopped. Emperor Gestahl, of course. There was no one else who both could and would fund such a grandiose, bloody venture. A monument to war and battle.

Terra's fingers laced in Celes', her quiet agreement that this was a celebration of things that ought not be celebrated. And a reminder to her lover that Terra knew, without any excuses or explanations, that this ...Coliseum... was not something Celes would have built, or endorsed.

"So this is where Shadow fled," noted Cyan dourly. "A proving ground." He turned to Setzer. "We will need to know how unfavorable the odds are."

Celes gently squeezed her lover's suddenly-cold fingers. Terra knew only the strongest in the group would be doing the fighting. "You may explain to him your concerns after we bring him out," she promised quietly. "And you know that we will return."


	11. Show Me Your Teeth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Bite"

Terra's green hair shone, shifted to a bright sunset pink, as shorter, velvety pink fur grew to coat her whole body, nails sharpening to claws. Even her eyes changed, glowing white fields like tiny stars.

She smiled, the nervousness unfitting to the ferocity of her form, her teeth bright white fangs. "I'm afraid I'll hurt you," she admitted.

Celes gently brushed the backs of her fingers along Terra's velveted cheek. "I will heal," she promised solemnly. "Bite, if you wish."

"And if I don't wish?" asked Terra.

Celes wore neither fur nor fangs nor Esper-form, but her smile was fierce. "And if I _do_?" she countered, leaning in for a kiss. "Be yourself, love. Embrace yourself and free me to embrace you in turn."

Terra's fingers trailed along Celes' forearm, the claws leaving deep scratches. She listened to Celes' unflinching intake of breath, watched the cuts heal just as they started to bleed.

"I am strong," Celes reminded her, quietly. "Strong enough for both of us. Claws or no. Scratch, bite. Be yourself, unrestrained." She leaned in, her mouth just barely caressing Terra's ear. "Free me to be as unrestrained in return."

Understanding at last, Terra turned toward Celes' kiss.


	12. Sensing the Unseen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Elusive"

"It's here," whispered Terra. 

The rest of the team looked around. Triangle Island wasn't exactly the most populated place, mostly small rodent types. No trees to speak of, so in all directions the route to the sea was clearly visible.

"Pardon me, but if you will - how can you tell?" whispered Cyan, crouching like the others in the tall grasses.

"We can sense it," Celes answered for her, slowly drawing her sword. She used it to point. "It is over there. Look at the ground."

They did. And saw the Intangir's indentations in the grass. Cyan raised his blade.


	13. A Matter of Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Lock"

Terra always locked her door. When in the field, she had a tent to herself and there was a little lock on the zipper. 

The first time Edgar hinted that possibly Terra might be a little less than trusting, Celes shut him down before he could finish the remark. "If she did not trust you, she would not sleep anywhere near you in so flimsy a thing as a silk tent."

"But," Edgar replied, gesturing to the little lock. "If she trusts us, then why that?"

"So that you understand her 'no' is not simply being coy," Celes replied flatly.


	14. Love's Refuge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Snapshot" is the prompt.
> 
> Wyrd Sisters' [Warrior](https://myspace.com/thewyrds/music/song/warrior-20257476-20058661) is part of the inspiration.

They were gathered all together, waving and smiling, which meant the camera had been on a timer. On the back, in imperfect scrawl, was written, _"We lorv yoo com bak soon!"_ and the signatures - or x's - of every child left in Mobliz.

Terra was very careful never to let her tears fall on it; she did miss them. But it was her love for them that kept her on the road; she couldn't go home, not until they were all safe.

And herself? When the snapshot was carefully tucked away, she leaned into Celes' embrace, and found peace.


	15. Terra's Ascension

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Orbit" - mostly a rework of the actual game event.

" _No!_ " Terra screamed, right before an unseen something tried to knock everyone else into the ravine. 

"Terra...and the esper..." grunted Sabin, trying to pull himself up without loosening any of the rock face.

"They're reacting to each other," Edgar agreed, clinging firmly. The fall was _steep_ from here.

"...What?" they all heard Terra murmur, but not to Edgar, or Sabin. Soft, distracted. "What is this I'm feeling?" she asked as she approached the esper. "Hm?" Her tone changed, becoming alarmed. "What's going on? Please tell me!"

Celes struggled to pull herself up onto level ground. This was getting bad, very quickly.

"Who am I?" she heard Terra demand. "Who?"

"Terra!" Locke called, almost as panicked as she was. 

Because something _was_ happening. Celes could sense it clearly. "The esper," she called toward Locke. "It's responding to her!" That must be what had thrown them clear. The esper and Terra...resonating somehow.

"Terra," Edgar tried to order, with his voice shaking, "Get away from that thing!"

But it was too late. The resonance increased to a crackling in the air, and Terra... _changed_. Shining, shimmering pink mane and fur and claws, in terror she shrieked and launched herself skyward, a comet in orbit.


	16. In a Moment of Fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #389 - Decision

The others were giving Terra her space. She _had_ turned them down once, after all. And 'Join us or have no help next time an eldritch demon freed in the breaking of the world tries to eat your foster kids' was an effective fear tactic but not necessarily a good long-term persuasive argument.

Celes wasn't _talking_ , but then she never did. She simply waited nearby, watching Terra go about her routines in camp. Watching Terra's body language reflect the churning of her thoughts. She'd reacted, before. A decision was still in the process of being made.

And _then_ she'd fight.


	17. Full Circle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Last"

Celes leaned on her sword in exhaustion; at any other time an unforgivable insult to a fine blade, but it wasn't every day one slew a world-destroying tyrant. Cyan was leaning just as hard on his, which was if anything confirmation of the indulgence.

Terra simply sat down on the deck of the Falcon. It had been a hard run to get back to the airship before the tower fell down around them, and she needed to catch her breath, too. She wore a faint expression of desolation.

To make her smile, Celes offered, "We are now even."

Terra just gave her a blankly puzzled look.

Celes sheathed her sword, going to sit by her lover. "I am now the last of my kind, too," she pointed out.

Last of the Empire's generals. Last of the Magitek knights. And if that was largely a good thing - though they would all miss Leo - well, there had been more than a few Espers who hadn't been terribly keen on humankind, too.

Terra smiled a twisted, sad sort of smile and leaned on Celes' shoulder. "Maybe we're just the first of something else. The people of Thamasa are free now, too."


	18. Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Fragile"

Both Terra and Celes quietly tended to basic equipment needs until the men were snoring. They had so much to discuss. Though Celes wasn't good at talking and Terra wasn't ready to. But it was still Terra who opened, with, "I remember you. Standing by his side."

"As were you," Celes replied quietly.

"But you wore no Crown," Terra pointed out. "Why am I different?"

"That, I do not know," Celes admitted. "But you are. And strong."

Terra blinked. She didn't _feel_ strong. Far from it. "Aren't you?"

"In different ways," Celes replied. "Not that they do much good now."


	19. The March of Mt. Kolts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Climbing the mountain to Sabin.

The march was not an easy one, along steep mountain ledges and through beast-filled caverns, but ever upward. Ever higher. And no one said a word about it, because Edgar had _that look_. That look that said he would follow even a whiff of rumor about his brother to Hell and back, and a mere _mountain_ could kiss his ass.

To Locke, it was just a matter of not arguing because you don’t argue with a guy that invents, maintains, and happens to be holding in his hands a very large, fully automatic, repeating crossbow.

To Terra, it was something not to be discussed because she didn’t know where to start. She had no frame of reference for ‘family’, never mind ‘brothers’, never mind ‘twins’. She understood that Edgar was not to be dissuaded, and really, on the face of things there didn’t seem to be a good reason not to, so she fought alongside the other two and healed them where necessary. But she didn’t understand. And Edgar looked so intense, she didn’t dare ask.

Locke gave her a look and a pat that was meant to be reassuring, but came across more as _sorry, he gets like this._ Terra found it wasn’t reassuring at all.


	20. This Way To The Egress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Escaping South Figaro

So. She wasn’t going to die.

Celes was finding this a fairly big thing to adjust to. She’d turned her back on the Empire. She’d _been_ the reason that was a lethal choice, many times. And she’d been caught and imprisoned and sentenced and that was all pretty much as she’d expected; she’d run the Imperial machine enough to understand its harsh efficiency.

And then …she wasn’t.

The Returners, or at least _this specific_ Returner, thought she might be able to do some good. Celes had some doubts about that. She was - _had been_ one of Gestahl’s four highest generals. If the Returners welcomed her with open arms, she really couldn’t say much for their tactical wisdom. After all, it was certainly not beyond the Emperor’s cunning to have set up such an event to plant a spy. They didn’t _know_ her. They didn’t _know_ how distasteful she found such tactics. But would it have mattered, if the Emperor had ordered it? Would it?

Locke led the way through secret passages out of South Figaro, as if he trusted Celes implicitly. Celes knew better; Locke was pleasant and cheerful but not a fool. But it was a pleasant illusion, and one that might yet be real one day. And an Imperial General knew what to do with the illusion of trust.

It was, after all, how an Imperial General survived the Emperor’s court.


	21. Carved in Ice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Open"

"We never really talk, do we," Terra mused, glancing over at Celes.

She smiled, just slightly, and shook her head. "Between them, Edgar and Setzer talk enough for ten."

Terra laughed at that, a bit guiltily. "They do, don't they?" she said. "And think you're cold. I don't think you're cold."

Celes' head tilted, curious. "Why?"

Terra paused, choosing her words carefully. "It's all there. In your face, voice. When you're not being the General, it's...as open as any book. I don't know why they can't read it."

"I suspect they would need your eyes, to see," Celes replied quietly.


	22. Trained to Hear

Terra was visibly gleeful as she joined Celes in the room Setzer had provided. "What was it _like_?" she asked. "To be in front of all those people, and singing - when did you learn to sing like that?"

Celes stripped down with the tired efficiency of a soldier grateful for a bed two feet away, and brushed out her hair before braiding it for sleep. "Draining," she decided. "And I taught myself. I suspect that Maria will have scathing commentary, but the audience is not sophisticated enough to tell the difference."

"Are you saying I'm unsophisticated?" asked Terra, sitting down on her side of the bed. 

Celes slanted a Look at her, clearly measuring how likely a completely honest response would result in trying to sleep on a loveseat or the floor. "I think you are complex," she said at last, "but you have not been in the world long enough for sophistication. Give it time."

Terra smiled a bit, recognizing the dodge for what it was. "If I ask you to show me the difference between your singing and Maria's, will you?"

Celes pulled the covers up. "If you can keep Setzer and Locke from listening in, yes."


	23. Music Lessons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I continued a bit from the last drabble, but FF6 does have gramaphones.

Setzer had a very complete collection of Maria's operas, on etched metal drums of his own design. The sound quality was pretty impressive.

Celes assured their privacy through the simple expedient of casting ice spells around the door, fusing it shut. It didn't make Setzer happy, but Setzer was on the other side of the door and would stay that way.

Terra had no thought to spare for annoyed gamblers. She was listening, raptly, to the music that happened when she turned the handle on the player, rotating the drum under the tiny needle. There were other players in the world, of course, some powered by springs and others by ingenious little water wheels, but she'd never had time to really pay attention to the music they made. Now she had time, and the music was the point.

"I can see why Setzer couldn't tell the difference between your singing and Maria's," Terra noted, listening closely. "But how am I supposed to?"

Celes smiled a small, private smile, one for Terra alone. "It is in the breath, the production of the note. We will play the opera in little pieces; you will listen to Maria sing, then I will sing. Maria has years of vocal training. I do not. I am certain that, heard side by side, you will hear the difference."


	24. Flight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "transport"

Terra was always to be found in the bow, hanging on to the port and starbord rails where they narrowed to a meeting point. The wind was strongest there, where the Falcon split it, and the view was the most comprehensive of all the world below them.

"If you miss flying," Celes remarked as she approached, "I doubt anyone would mind."

"I'm not sure I can control it yet," Terra admitted. "Consciously, I mean. I flew, but..."

"But you were not entirely yourself at the time," Celes agreed quietly. "You did not come back."

Terra nodded; all the proof needed.


	25. Art Discussions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Portrait"

"I think I would like a portrait of you," Terra mused, as the group sat around the campfire.

Locke just winced. "You can say that after that _thing_ in the Starlet picture?" he asked. "I may never walk past a portrait again."

Terra looked pensive, as she often did when criticized, so Celes said, "When we get to Vector, I will show you where the official portrait the Emperor had made of me hangs. And you can have it, if you wish."

Terra smiled, but a bit carefully. "Is this all the General regalia?"

Celes nodded, conceding that point. "I wear the uniform of an Imperial General, yes. But perhaps it will do until Relm grows up enough to know when _not_ to paint portraits that function on sympathetic magic."

"Seconded," said Cyan firmly, to a general 'hear hear' from the rest of the group and a wounded 'huh!' from Relm, who threw a small rock at Celes, but was careful to miss.

Terra nodded, thinking it over. "I think I would like that. Until, as you say, Relm is ready." She got up, to pat Relm on the shoulder. "You've been painting to attack," she said. "Not to celebrate."


	26. Allow Nothing Between

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Between"

In a few hours, it would all begin. Or end. Or both; the two seemed to be intertwined. Three groups would descend onto the top of Kefka's tower, and fight their way down to him for the final confrontation.

And Celes and Terra would be in separate groups. Because they had to be; Terra relied on magic, and Celes' great advantage was absorbing it, keeping it from attacking her companions. 

But for these last few hours before the attack commenced, they were still together. Celes' arms around Terra's in the bow of the _Falcon_ , watching the predawn colors seep into the nighttime sky, fingers interlaced.

"He's doing it on purpose, isn't he," said Terra quietly.

"To separate us?" said Celes. "Of course. Divide and conquer." She didn't have to remind Terra of the floating isle, or the magitek factory. To divide his enemies, isolate them - or better yet, set them against each other - had always been Kefka's delight. "But I _will_ find you again. Be sure of it."

"I am," said Terra, taking out a small bracelet and passing it over. "I've attuned this one to another. You'll know where I am, and I'll know where you are."


	27. Consequences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Guilt"

Celes' fingers brushed over the headscarf. Frowning to herself, she shook her head and let the scarf be.

Terra watched curiously. "This town bothers you. Why?"

Celes looked, briefly, surprised; then her mouth twisted as she remembered. "You would not know. One of my titles is 'the butcher of Maranda'."

Terra blinked. "The town we landed near? It doesn't seem, um. Butchered..."

Celes straightened, soldier-straight and square. "It will when we get nearer. I led the attack that defeated it. There were many casualties, and we conscripted citizens to recoup the losses."

"Oh," was all Terra could say to that. 

Celes was not going to hide from what she had done. Her actions shamed her, that much Terra knew, but Celes did not hide from shame. She would face the people whose homes she had destroyed without subterfuge.

Which was...admirable. Really. But Terra had some experience with human fear, too, so she said, "Um. Let me just go get Locke and Cyan. In case of, um, rocks. Or - silly things." Raising a finger to indicate Celes should wait there, she went to find the others.

She was pretty sure they'd know what to do with an excess of honor.


	28. In Close

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Close"

Terra's Esper form was only human in the base sense; the shape, the placement of limbs and senses. Her Esper form bore bright sharp claws, a thick mane, and a full coat of thick, glossy pink fur that bore an independent shine.

Children tended to want to pet her, if she hid her claws. And she didn't mind that - she loved children, she found them much easier to understand than adults - but it did make her feel somewhat like a toy.

But Celes, in close, did not luxuriate in the fur or play with the mane. Rather, she treated it as what it was; a new configuration of Terra, with its own sensitivities.

She was very good at discovering them; like the spot just at the base of her neck, where the edge of her mane was. Or the spot on Terra's hip where back fur met belly fur. Little places, both mapped by and hidden by her pink fur, that took their moments together decidedly out of the territory of teddy-cuddling.

They were places that were only sensitive in her Esper form, and never discussed. Both women found it instructive that not even Edgar flirted with Espers.


	29. Acceptance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Popular"

Celes watched from the shadow of an abandoned house as the children surrounded Terra. Her Esper form hid her fearful wariness well, and she knew to keep her claws lowered. Children - even in large groups - were no threat to her. Even if they did feel like a mob.

"...Terra?" asked a little girl, approaching carefully. "Mama? It _is_ you!"

It was all the other children needed to hear. Celes smiled to herself as she watched them flock toward Terra, hugging and petting her shining pink fur.

Terra looked back to Celes, eyes shining with happy relief. She didn't try saying anything; she would have had to shout to be heard over the children, anyway.

Celes nodded toward her, acknowledging her regard. "I will wait to convey my regards until your fan club has dispersed," she said, knowing Terra could hear her even so.

Terra smiled in answer; she knew it was just Celes' way of letting her enjoy her sudden surge in popularity. And she _was_ enjoying it. She'd been afraid for so long that the children wouldn't understand her dual nature. It was such a relief to be herself, and be loved.

Celes' smile showed she understood.


	30. Our Altered Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Destiny"

Tonight was to be the last night. Tomorrow, the _Falcon_ would take them, all of them, back to the remains of the lives they had put on hold to finish what they had begun.

Setzer had put a record on, and the merry music filled silence only marginally interrupted by clinking glasses and cutlery. No one really had much to say. This wasn't an ending so much as a beginning, after all.

"You did this," Terra mused softly. "You started it. Brought it all together. But what now?"

Celes looked down at her glass. "I had nothing to lose and everything to gain," she said. "I already knew I could not bend knee to the Empire before I had met any of the others. I had already made that choice. I faced my mistakes before the floating island, so there was no challenge in remaining in isolation. You may see it as courage, but truly I had no other option. And now...I may have too many."

Terra smiled. Celes would be welcome anywhere in what was left of the world, that was true. There was certainly a benefit in carving your own destiny. "You could come with me," she offered.


	31. Variations of Courage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "tense"

Celes entered the hall, radiating the stiff soldier's posture that indicated, to Terra, that her partner was more than a little tense. She often did at first meetings, despite the fact that it tended to reinforce any negative impressions the locals might have of her reputation. Celes could not admit how much condemnation and judgment hurt her, because to her mind it was entirely deserved. She _had_ been one of Gestahl's generals, and she _had_ killed quite a lot of people. And towns, for that matter.

It just never _helped_ , that she admitted it. 

So Terra stepped in front of her, made herself the focus. Smiled - albeit nervously, as she wasn't much better at this than Celes - and made introductions. Made the townfolk focus on _her_. Until they saw Celes' ramrod posture as being defensive of Terra, and not the stiff gait of the guilty approaching just retribution.


	32. It's A Matter Of Perception

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Entice"

"I think I need you to explain something to me," said Terra carefully, and tugged Celes down the street.

It turned out to be a lingerie store. 

Celes' expression didn't change. "What is it you need me to explain? Did Edgar show this to you?"

"Um, no," said Terra, puzzled. "Why? I just wondered what this was for. It looks very, um, itchy."

Celes considered explaining 'feeling sexy' or enticing a lover, but all of that depended on experiences and beliefs that Terra didn't have or completely missed. She picked up a catalog for the store, opening it to a spread of a model wearing the things on the racks. "Does this woman seem attractive?"

"...She seems happy?" Terra hazarded. "I wouldn't be. That lace would scratch."

Celes nodded. "What if I wore it? Would you find that good?"

This got a longer pause. "It's not really very 'you'," she decided at last. Then she smiled. "But maybe some knitted chainmail! We could do that!"

Celes smiled and put the catalog down. "I think all you need to know about this store is, if Edgar ever mentions it or buys you something from here, you should hit him. Very hard."


	33. Biter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Power"

"It's an interesting sword," said Terra, picking it up tentatively. "What did you say it was called?"

"A runeblade," said Celes. "It taps into magic fed into it, making it strike harder, cut cleaner. It can fell trees centuries old in one swing at need."

"But it needs magic to work," Terra mused. "So that would be very exhausting."

"Potentially," Celes nodded. "But I am able to use the magic enemies cast at me to power it. It makes many of my battles quite short."

"Yes...I can see that it would," putting the sword down as if it might bite.


	34. Twilight Requiem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Fireflies"

Celes tugged Terra by the hand, away from camp. Somewhat to Locke's dismay and Edgar's quiet snickering - and even Terra mistook her intent, at first, as Celes led them around a boulder that hid the campfire from view.

Celes answered Terra's light kiss with one of her own, but said, "I brought you here to see something else. The others would not know you have never seen them." She tugged Terra down to sit against the shadow of the boulder. "Be quiet and still, and you will see them soon."

Terra gave her a smile and a puzzled look, but did as bidden.

In the dark, as the wild adapted to their still presence, little golden lights started flickering into existence, hovering in brief moments along the ground.

Terra gasped, but Celes was ready, and kept a hand over Terra's mouth. "They are fireflies," Celes breathed softly into her ear. "They come out in the twilight, at this time of year."

Terra watched in delighted fascination, making tiny little delighted noises as she curled against Celes, watching the fireflies. "They're beautiful."

Celes smiled, fingers combing through Terra's hair. And simply listened to her lover being delighted in the dark.


	35. Silent Persuasion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Naked"

It surprised the men that Celes had no shame when it came to nudity. When they found a body of water big enough for bathing, she would unbind her hair and strip down with everyone else, without a word said about it.

While she never _visibly_ responded to remarks, such bathing opportunities had a habit of getting steadily colder the longer commentary continued. No one saw Celes casting Ice spells into the water, and she never spoke of it, but the cooling continued until the men either shut up or were driven out of the water.

Terra envied her. _She_ couldn't help but blush at the stares. She didn't cringe, but neither did she know what to _do_ about it. And she didn't like freezing water.

Finally, she asked Celes for advice.

Celes frowned. "It took...a long time to learn what I do," she admitted. "I have not wanted to be too defensive on your behalf, but - I will see to it. Trust me."

The next overt comment about Terra's nudity resulted, without any visible gesture or word on Celes' part, in a spontaneous ice-ball forming over the commenter's - luckless Setzer that day - crotch.

The comments stopped.


	36. Scars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Experiment"

Terra's fingers lightly brushed the back of Celes' hand. She wore gloves most of the time, sturdy swordsman's gloves that hid the scars.   
  
Celes loved her magical powers, loved being a Magitek Knight. But she had learned shame in how she had come to have them.   
  
No one with a soul could feel otherwise, after seeing Espers in giant test tubes, feed lines and drain lines plugged into their bodies, draining their powers while keeping them alive as long as possible.  
  
Their magical essence, what passed in Espers for blood, had been fed into Celes' body as an infant. She had had no more choice than they, lines in her hands and arms, forcibly accepting what had been forcibly taken.  
  
Only Terra had no marks. Straddling the line between human and Esper, she was too valuable to risk, and the experiments upon her had left no marks.  
  
Celes answered Terra's caress with one of her own, fingertips lightly brushing green strands of hair from Terra's forehead, where the slave crown had once rested.  
  
 _I know where you've come from. I know where you've been. And I love you._  
  
Their lips touched gently. One had to be careful with old scars.


	37. Crown of Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Fall"

Terra was not made for autumn, Celes knew. Bright green hair and brilliant colors suited her; the living flowers of spring and summer. When the leaves turned to fire and the flowers faded, Terra gave the impression of a kind of living seasonal memory.

Celes herself, pale blond hair and white cloak, was more the prophecy of winter-to-come. 

They walked side by side along South Figaro's streets, Terra absently catching colorful falling leaves as they passed her. She had quite the handful now.

"Why do you catch them?" Celes asked at last. 

"To make a crown for you," Terra replied.


	38. Keeping Pace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Bruise"

"Why don't you heal them?" asked Terra, frowning. "The bruises look terrible."

Celes didn't look up from cleaning her sword. "Because it does not help," she said calmly. "If I do not wear my bruises, then I am some delicate lily kept about to look pretty. I am not a warrior, not a general. I am a decoration."

"You _know_ that isn't how they see you," Terra protested, fingers reaching involuntarily, to heal.

Celes caught her hand before she could. "The men in this group do not waste cures on simple bruises," she said firmly. "Nor shall I."

"It's _my_ cure magic," Terra protested. "I don't understand. I just don't like seeing you hurt."

Celes raised Terra's caught fingers to her lips, for a light kiss. "I know. But I ask that you respect my wish in this, please, as I would respect yours."

"I think they're being silly, and you're being silly to fit in," said Terra, unhappily. "If I can talk the others into having their bruises healed, will you accept it too?"

Celes smiled slightly at that. "If you succeed in persuading them, then yes, I will accept it too." She let Terra's hand go then, amused.


	39. Aesthetic Appreciation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Beauty"

Celes never told Terra she was beautiful.

It wasn't the sort of thing a Magitek Knight said; not of a person, anyway. Things were beautiful. Possessions were beautiful. _People_ , at least people who mattered more than things, had better adjectives to describe them than their appearance, and better ways to show appreciation for beauty than words.

Kefka had often told Terra she was beautiful, or pretty. 

Celes' fingertip, tracing along the line of Terra's jaw, or lightly tapping the tip of her nose, said _you are beautiful_. Lips brushed against lips spoke silently of beauty. The curve of Celes' lips as she looked at her lover needed no words to clarify her feelings. _You are beautiful_ was in every touch, every kiss, every caress. It was in the way Celes' arms encircled Terra at night, and the way she buried her nose in Terra's hair.

And Terra understood every silence.


	40. Courting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Flirt"

Flirtation was not an art taught by the court of Gestahl. Celes and Terra sat at their table with their drinks, watching Cyan completely lose his grip at a young courtesan.

"I don't really understand what she said that was so bad," Terra mused, sipping. "She was being friendly, I thought."

Celes smiled slightly. "And if she'd said those things to you?"

Terra thought that over. "I don't feel that way about her. But I don't think I'd _yell_ at her. What about you?"

"I would tell her I am committed," said Celes simply, her fingers brushing across Terra's lightly.


	41. What use a mage?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Bang"

The guns on the ground hit the hull of the airship with repeated bangs and shudders that rippled through the decking, knocking everyone from their feet. Crawling was faster, and the crew crawled to the railings.

"My _ship_ ," groaned Setzer, seeing the damage to the hull.

Terra and Celes locked gazes, then with a small smile joined hands and stood up. "We will return fire," said Celes, and Terra nodded firmly.

Celes focused her blasts of ice on the men firing the cannon below, while Terra cast bursts of flames on the cannon themselves, melting and warping the oversized barrels.


	42. strangers at the door

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Stranger"

Celes waited with the stillness of a sniper, watching the door. What would she be like? How much would she remember - if anything? Would she resent Celes, as Celes despised herself, for not saying anything, for not acting to help? Would she forgive?  
  
Because the Terra she'd known hadn't been _Terra_ , and Celes knew it. Terra had been there in body only, her will subsumed by the slave crown. But the body had memory.  
  
Who would come through that door? What would she be _like_?  
  
When Terra, Edgar and Banon came through the door, all Celes could do was rise, and with honesty only truly understood between the two of them, bow before Terra as before an equal. "Good evening, Terra. It is an honor to meet you at last."  
  
The others thought it was because the Returners placed so much hope in Terra.  
  
Terra knew better. She smiled - a bit sad, a bit wry - at the bow, and with equally private honesty, took one of Celes' hands in both of her own and said, "It is a pleasure to be able to greet you, General."  
  
The others took alarmed note at that...but Celes understood, and smiled.


	43. Propositions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Proposal"

It was not that such a gesture was in the nature of either of them - rather, it was specifically because it _wasn't_ , that Celes understood it to be necessary.

With the world broken, a lot of things just weren't being done until a clearer idea of the shape of the new world was obtained, and that included mining. Except in Narshe, where coal was a necessity and the miners kept track of seams of anything else that they came across. From _them_ Celes obtained the diamonds and the gold, and had the atificier craft a ring.

Formal attire was another hurdle. All Celes had on that front was the opera dress for that idiotic plan of Locke's - which wasn't right at all for this - and her formal General's uniform, which was, again, absolutely not the right thing. She consulted, therefore, with Cyan (who understood) and Edgar (who really didn't), and created a Returner's uniform. And had it made. Her hair she had braided in a tight crown, every strand perfectly held in place.

Just for this.

Just for this moment, when she presented Terra flowers from bended, uniformed knee, and the gold and diamond ring from a tiny wooden box held in cupped hand.

Because Terra treasured the things Normal girls did even if neither she nor Celes particularly understood them, and if one was going to propose a marriage, it was in Celes' nature to do it right the first time.

Terra hugged the flowers, laughing.


	44. Hard Penance, Soft Compensation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "bed"

Terra sat on the bed experimentally, bouncing up and down a bit on it. "It's a bit narrow," she observed.

"I will sleep on the floor if you prefer," said Celes simply. "I merely thought you would prefer I room with you than one of the men."

"Definitely," said Terra. "Edgar is very strange." She gave Celes a curious look. "Do you prefer the floor, then?"

Celes paused. There really wasn't a prescribed, polite way to say _I'm trying to make up for not freeing you from slavery_. It was almost worse that Terra didn't seem to blame her, somehow.


	45. Remnants

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Skirt"

The gift was quite small. And not very heavy; about the size of a hand, cubed, but Terra thought it might float if set in water.   
  
She tilted her head at Celes. "What is it?"  
  
"Yours, I hope," said Celes, taking a seat in a handy desk chair. "You seemed to like the look of them."  
  
Puzzled, Terra opened the gift. And found a skirt, of the same lacy white layers as the opera dress Celes had worn when playing Maria's part. Excitedly, she shook the skirt out and held it up. It was floor length; just tightly packed.  
  
"It's _wonderful!_ " Terra squeaked, and tried to pull it on. "Wait, how does it go?"  
  
"Not over your leggings, for one thing," said Celes dryly, and got up to help her shake the skirt out. And while Terra got out of her leggings, she held the skirt up to be stepped into. "The hooks go here, and here, on the back. See? Hook them in the front, then you twist it about - yes, like that."  
  
Terra twirled, laughing delightedly at the swish of lace and silks in the full skirt. "I love it."  
  
"I thought you might," said Celes, pleased.

* * *


	46. Glitter and Gold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hands"

It was all there in the interlacing of their fingers. However similar their lives had been, and were now, they were never the same. And they approached things from slightly different angles.  
  
Both mages, but Celes' fingers bore thick swordswoman's callouses. She needed her blade to draw spells to her, to throw magic back out at her enemies, a gun powered by a lightning rod. She wore gloves, but that really only kept her hands from being overly dry.  
  
Terra's fingers were soft and smooth, magic that flowed naturally and required no physical exertion. But her fingernails always sported the sharp tips of natural claws, even at her most human. She enjoyed using the french-tip painting technique, and putting glitter over the paint, where Celes' hands were never painted, and only rarely manicured.  
  
A stranger, studying their hands, might have thought Celes was the deadlier of the two. In truth, they were evenly matched so long as Celes had a runic blade on her person. But most saw no further than Celes' expressionless mask or Terra's glittery nails and made their judgments.  
  
It was for this reason Terra had a much higher kill count than Celes; the element of surprise.


	47. The Butcher's Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Risk"

"But how did you get away?" asked Terra one night. "I only did because Tritoch killed all my handlers at once, and there were Narshe guards nearby to find me."

"I walked," said Celes simply. "The Empire expects its renegades to run. Dead of night, disguises...I was a general. I had great freedom to move. So I simply walked out."

Terra frowned. "But that didn't work, did it. You were caught, Locke said."

Celes nodded. "Villagers recognized me. And for what I had done, were more than pleased to alert the Empire to my presence. I had miscalculated the risks."


	48. At Bay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Stay"

Terra didn't make a sound, when the nightmares came. Her body, in sleep, just tensed. Every muscle, taut and tense against remembered pain, breaths short and fast. Not a whimper, not a cry.

Celes woke her with just a slight touch against her forearm. "It's over," she murmured as Terra jerked back. She remained still. Letting Terra go. Waited for the _now_ to override memories of _then_.

When it did, Terra looked sheepish. "I'm sorry. I know better. I do."

Celes shook her head. "You do not need to apologize to me. I should be the one to do that."

"You do," Terra replied tiredly; nightmares had a way of being exhausting. She reached out her hand. "Stay? Please? I think ...if you're holding me..."

Celes wasn't so sure - there were rumors, after all, of Kefka's _enjoyment_ of the slave crown. But she had to trust Terra.

"Of course."


	49. Ice and Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "shelter"

Terra wasn't the only one to laugh in delight at the thunderstorm going on - and this was the key word - _outside_. She was just the first, and the most honest.

"How long will it last?" she asked, curious.

"As long as I keep contact with it," said Celes, in the calm tone of complete focus. Around them, and overhead, a round hut of pure ice kept the rain at bay. And as the warm rain melted gouges in the ice, Celes just kept making more.

"And it will drip _outside_?" asked Locke dubiously. Terra swatted him, grinning proudly.


	50. In Honor's Name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Better"

Terra watched curiously. Celes hadn't moved or spoken for a half hour; her eyes half-closed as she watched the campfire, or something on the other side of it. She was tempted to touch, but Cyan saw her movement and shook his head; no.  
  
But she did ask, once Celes stirred again. "What do you see?"  
  
"The burning of Maranda," said Celes. "The moment I realized what I had become in honor's name."  
  
"But you're with the Returners now, like me," said Terra. "You shouldn't dwell on that."  
  
"From that point," said Celes, "My life could only end, or get better."


	51. Daring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Dare"

It was much harder to risk the heart than the soul, Celes considered. Or a career. Or life. She hadn't dithered this much over the decision to leave the Emperor's service. And Gestahl had been...not a father, but a kind of uncle. All her life he'd been nearby. 

So had Terra, but Terra had been there like the furniture. Slave crowns had that effect. She didn't think about it; Terra without the crown was truly Terra; before there had been only a doll, devoid of soul.

But that first touch, that first reaching out, gently - if she were not an Imperial Magitek General one might use the word _timidly_ \- to touch Terra's cheek, trace the line of her jaw...that had taken more daring than she had needed to turn her back on the Empire and all her life before. Terra who remembered the doll years. Terra who knew everything Celes had done, and not done, and turned her back on.

Shame, and anger, had fueled that change. Perhaps, she mused, that had shielded her. There was neither shame nor anger in this reaching, but a defenseless openness. 

Terra smiled at the touch like a river of shivering sunlight.


	52. The Trouble With Batman Gambits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Trouble"

"You know he didn't know what he was saying," said Terra thoughtfully. "Not really."

Celes shook her head. "The difficulty is I am fairly sure he _did_ ," she replied. "I chose. I chose to be a part of the Empire, I chose to serve my Emperor. And I chose not to. I chose to leave. I choose. Choices are suspect creatures, and subject to change."

"But really," Terra comforted. "He didn't think it _through_. I mean the Empire would have had to have known _he_ was coming, was in South Figaro to rescue you, all of that. There just isn't any way the Empire could have known those things and then thought 'let's let him rescue our top general so she can be a spy', when they could - much more easily, and with a lot less risk - _shot_ him."

Celes briefly smiled. "Aye. No shortage of soldiers and mechs to do that, either. The Tunnel-armor would have gotten him without me, but I didn't know it was going to be there and neither did he."

"So you see my point," said Terra, smiling back. "He didn't think it through."

Celes leaned over and gently kissed Terra's cheek. "I am very glad that you _did_."


	53. Balancing the Scales

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Debt"

Terra shook her head. "I don't think you actually _owe_ anyone anything," she said slowly. "You made some bad choices. And people, lots of people, have made you pay for that. I think it balances."

"I owe myself," said Celes quietly. "And the world...which is not quite the same as the people in it. I destroyed lives, and homes, and towns. I failed to stop Kefka scorching the _world_. There is a debt there. I can feel it."

Terra mulled this over. "Do I owe this debt too?"

"No," said Celes. "Where there is no choice, there is no debt."


	54. Tendrils of Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hour"

Terra held the little pile of dirt cupped in her hands, the seed perched on top like a cherry on a sundae. She'd been sitting cross-legged on the floor for over an hour, unmoving, and Celes had to consider whether this was going to be one of those times when she took care of life around her for however long it took her partner to ...do whatever it was she was doing.

Celes was good with elemental magics - admittedly, mostly ice - but Terra could do amazing things when she put her mind to it. The Esper magics came naturally to her, and she'd been experimenting more with them lately.

Celes wasn't sure where the seed came into it. Hopefully Terra was just trying to make it grow. It wasn't a bad thing to try; since the Light of Judgment had fried Mobliz, most seeds never sprouted. Something had to be done.

Or...possibly, she could help. Celes looked about, making sure no chores were left undone, and then sat down opposite Terra, putting her hands lightly around Terra's. Willing her power, Shiva's borrowed blood, toward Terra.

Between their cupped hands, the seed sprouted, putting forth a tendril of leaf.


	55. Dreaming in the Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Femslashficlets #007 - Dark

What you are in the dark, some said, was the truest reflection of your self.

Celes had to wonder if someone hadn't gotten that backwards. In the dark of the cell, her captors - for the moment - sleeping the exhausted sleep of sated sadists - she didn't feel different. In pain, yes. She'd refrained from using her reserves of magic to heal herself. (There wasn't much point - the guards would just keep beating her until the moment she was dragged to her execution. But they'd get in trouble for beating her _to death_.)

She didn't regret turning on the empire. She regretted only that she hadn't done it _sooner_. Before Maranda. 

...Before she'd had to be shown that even the mindless wanted to be free.

The reports weren't clear, since no one had been left alive that would answer questions, but Biggs and Wedge had taken Terra to Narshe. Terra, who _couldn't_ disobey, _couldn't_ think for herself with that crown on her head. And now Biggs and Wedge were dead and Terra was...

Free.

Whoever she was now, wherever she was, she was someone Celes had never truly met; a woman with thought and feeling and will and that was something the Empire had never granted her.

And it was only in thinking about that, that Celes had realized she, too, had served the Empire without thought, without will. Only she had not forced the Empire to put a slave crown on her head. She'd done it to herself, every day since childhood, refusing to see what was in front of her. Refusing to think about her actions.

No. Celes did not regret the dark, the beatings, the cruelties her captors dreamt up that were so predictable in their banal darkness. She deserved this, and death. Not for her rebellion, as they claimed, but for not doing so much sooner. When lives could have been spared.

She wished she had chosen to rebel _before_ Terra. She would have liked to meet her. Truly meet her. 

In the dark, it wasn't hard to think of at least twenty reasons that the reverse was unlikely to be true. But they were, in their way, both free women now. Perhaps that would make a difference. 

Her choices had set the stage thus far. And perhaps this was the end. But perhaps it wasn't. And at the end of choices, was Terra.


	56. The Limits of Exploration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Femslashficlets #012: The Five Senses
> 
> Scars in play.

It was something of a peculiar blessing, Celes sometimes reflected, that their past time together in the Empire's service was the key to their current compatibility.

_What minefields we would be to others,_ Celes thought. 

Terra enjoyed sense play, for example. Delicate stems of melting ice traced gently across her limbs. Heated silks. Gently blown exhalations, the vibration of humming with lips against flesh.

But never, ever, to be bound or held down. Not in play, not in any other way. She wouldn't react well to so much as fingertips brushing her wrists. She would grip leather straps or a bedpost or whatever might help - like Celes, her innate powers made actual attempts to grip another person perilous - but never, ever, could she be restrained by another. Never gagged, either - never silenced.

And that was Kefka's legacy.

Celes could not submit. She had to be the actor, not the acted-upon. To bow, to retreat, to let another take charge, had become an abhorrent abdication of responsibility. There was no protection, no safety in following orders, no joy. To obey, to _submit_ , was to allow another Maranda. Not even in the bedroom, now.

And that was Gestahl's legacy.


	57. Up and Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Femslashficlets #001 - Begin
> 
> Cliff climbing.

It began at the fingertips. Human fingernails were broad, thin, flat. Esper claws were thick and round and sharp. The soft short pink fur grew from the fingers, covered the back of Terra's hands, extended up her arms and over her body, with several other changes occurring in its wake.

Little fangs - not the standard four teeth but a full mouth of them - peeked through pink lips, but this didn't stop Celes planting an approving kiss on them. Terra was still a bit selfconscious about her Esper form.

Celes held out her hands; one empty, one holding a sturdy rope. "Would you prefer to carry us up the cliff, one by one? Or take the rope up and let us get ourselves to the top?"

The only male in the party that didn't look the least bit discomfited by the whole idea was Gau. Celes distributed a firm glare between them that suggested firmly one wrong word would lead to a duel, so maybe it would be wisest for mouths to stay shut. 

Terra, considering the question at hand, ignored them - much to Celes' relief.

"I think I will carry you and tie the rope for them."


	58. Therapeutic Destruction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The returners came for the meeting. Terra came for the crown.  
> (Femslashficlets #002 - Break)

They waited until the others had filed out, toward the fight ahead. Terra because she had unfinished business; Celes because Terra. She wasn't entirely sure what Terra was after, but she'd seen the way Terra sat so stiffly during the meeting. Fear. Though fear of _what_ , Celes couldn't guess.

When Arvis approached with gentleness rather than puzzlement, Celes gathered they'd met before. _This house, then,_ she guessed. Word had gotten around that Terra had been 'kidnapped' by a Narshe resident. Of course, knowing what Terra could do made such a story utterly implausible.

"What is it?" asked Arvis carefully.

"Do you have...it?" asked Terra nervously, and Celes kept her expression neutral. _Of course. The slave crown._

Arvis nodded. "Didn't want to throw it away in case someone could figure out how to fix it."

Terra tried to stand straighter, but the attempt at imperiousness failed to cover her agitation. "May...may I have it?"

Arvis just nodded, and went to retrieve it. It wasn't an unlovely thing to look at. An almost delicate circlet, silver and gold and what looked like gemstones. That several were cracked and blackened revealed their true nature; neural dampeners.

Terra accepted it, and gave Celes a defiant look. As if she thought Celes might disapprove. Or want to take the crown from her.

Celes just shook her head slightly. Everyone had to break their own chains. Even, and especially, those in the mind. She set her own hands over Terra's, an offer to help, an offer to support.

Arvis stood back as the delicate-looking Terra crushed what was left of the slave crown between her hands, the sharp crack of breaking circuits and snapped metal. Fire bloomed in her hands as she melted the broken thing into a solid, fused mass.

"Be free, Terra," Celes murmured.


	59. Elaborate Surprises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #003 - Sweet  
> Celes has little experience at choosing presents. Recruiting Relm to help might not have been wise.

This was important. It was vital to choose with care. But frankly, Celes was out of her depth.

"If you had never had any of these before," she asked Relm, "Where would you begin?"

Relm just stared. "Who hasn't had _candy_?" she asked, incredulous. "You?"

"As well," Celes conceded. "I have little interest in starting now, either. But you enjoy candy. So..."

Relm clapped her hands together in glee. "It's for Terra, isn't it?" she asked. "You're getting a present for Terra!"

Celes sighed. She was never, ever, having children. Thankfully, Terra had adopted a whole village of orphans and the issue would never arise. "Yes," she admitted. "And you must not spoil the surprise. Will you help me choose?"

"Do I get to watch?" asked Relm, grinning.

"In the way you usually do," Celes sighed. "From the sidelines. If you can help me choose." The confectionery was daunting in its myriad forms. "I know Terra wants to experience new things. Where is a good place to begin?"

Now that she had to choose just one thing, and not for herself, Relm took a more critical approach to the offering of sweets. "Well... d'you know what she likes? I mean in flavors? Minty, spicy, rich...?"

Celes just looked blank. Relm's expression suggested that somewhere past the age of 14 all humans' brains turned to mush. 

"Okay then. Gift box. Selection of flavors and _pay attention_ to what she likes best, okay?" said Relm authoritatively, and dragged Celes to the collection of candy bins. "Chocolate. Dark chocolate. Fruit dipped in chocolate. Fruit dipped in sugar."

Celes quickly nabbed a sampler box - and then a second. This was getting _incredibly_ complex. The best she could hope for was an answer to her question, paired with not having to do this again.


	60. Playing with Hair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #004 - Twist
> 
> Female adventurers with long hair tend to need a bit of creativity on long treks.

Terra enjoyed getting to brush Celes' hair in the evenings. While they listened to the others chatting - who killed what, how creatively, and what dinner had to offer were the standard topics - Terra would carefully comb out Celes' blond hair, twist it into ropes, and braid the ropes together for another day of adventuring.

Celes returned the favor in the mornings, twisting and braiding Terra's green locks into something that could survive another day of wilderness combat. But Terra _enjoyed_ it; Celes saw it as practical necessity.

Nevertheless, Celes usually found a flower to twist into the braids.


	61. Paths of Desire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #005 - Want
> 
> Knights want for nothing. Neither do slaves. For the same reason; they're not allowed to.

A life of service. Chosen, except not; she had followed the path laid out for her. And in Terra's case, forced from beginning to end.

One did not want, in a life of service. One did not have desires of one's own, slave crown or no. Only Kefka had broken that rule, not merely wanting but wanting all.

It was all right, to want now. No condemnation, no commentary. The world had ended and begun anew, the rules undergoing change alongside it.

No one had a word to say, when Celes' fingers and Terra's fingers intertwined. Not even, thankfully, Edgar.


	62. Or Be Undone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Late"

"But Shadow!" pleaded Terra, even as she fireballed a demented cross between a jester and a ninja that Kefka had probably only just invented. Running on her toes made for a graceful-looking leap over its charred corpse.

 _Everyone_ was running. And fighting. They had to get to the edge before the magic holding several hundred thousand tons of rock in the air gave out. 

"We will have to hope he can make his own way," said Celes, as she used her shield to bash another jester-ninja in the face, her blade cleaving it in half before it could recover. "There's no time to go anywhere but the edge. We've got to get to the airship."

Her white cape streamed behind her as she ran, a beacon among the drab rocks. Not, however, quite as visible a beacon as Terra's frequent fireballs. There weren't many survivors that required attention from Celes' blades, or Cyan's.

"Do you think he's alive?" asked Terra, worried and not at all out of breath as she step-leaped over a rock.

"I believe that if anyone can survive ambushing Kefka, it is probably Shadow," said Celes tersely. It wasn't that she was ungrateful. There were simply priorities.


	63. Kiss of Snow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Kiss"

It should not have been a surprise to Terra, to find that Celes kissed like snow - and yet it was.

Celes was a battle-hardened general. Surrounded by men who rarely took her or her skill seriously, she almost never smiled, almost never showed what she thought or felt unless she was prepared to back it with steel.

And yet when she kissed Terra the first time, it was soft and cool as a snowflake landing on her lips. No hard edges - no ice - no force. She didn't hold Terra's chin, or in any way make it seem that she wouldn't immediately accept a backing-away as a refusal of contact.

Kissing her, Terra found, was like sinking into a snowbank; the snow gave way and yet shaped itself around her, and so did Celes' embrace. Never gripping, only supporting. It was as if Celes' arms knew the _shape_ of her.

Terra had not kissed many people. Or any, if one added the qualifier 'willingly'. She'd _been_ kissed, held, bound. Celes probably knew that, or could easily guess. But there was nothing of overt caution in Celes' arms. She was as she was, always simply being her truest self.


	64. Surely it is Raining

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Mood"

Terra sniffled quietly, laying the flowers on Leo's grave. Celes set the general's sword in the earth, upright. Marker, memorial.

Unusually, even their companions were subdued. Leo had been an honorable man. Proof that the Empire they hated was only truly embodied in two of its leaders.

Celes was just glad they were quiet. Terra was crying, though she was trying to be quiet about it. Celes unhooked her white cloak, wrapped it carefully about Terra's soldiers.

"There's so much I wanted to know," murmured Terra.

Celes put a light arm around her shoulders. There was nothing else to say.


	65. Twice as Good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hurt/Comfort"

Celes eased herself onto the bed with slow and studious care, until Terra closed the cabin door. It would never do to show the boys just how much the battle had cost her.

Terra's hands were gentle with the straps, removing the battered breastplate. Revealing the hard bruises, cracked bones, bloodied flesh beneath.

Celes lay back on the bed. Easier to breathe without that weight, but not much.

"He almost threw you off the cliff," said Terra, healing magic flowing warmly from gentle fingertips. "You're allowed to be hurt."

Celes brushed grateful fingers over Terra's healing hands. "Not to them."


	66. A Moment of Failure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Question"

Terra found Celes in the dark before dawn, watching the stars slowly fading in the east.

"Locke's being...strange, in the inn?" Terra opened with, carefully. She wasn't sure what the right word for alternately brooding and stomping was.

"He's aware that he was wrong and that being wrong has consequences," said Celes distantly, without turning around. 

"Thinking you would betray everyone because Kefka said you did," Terra nodded. She didn't need to comment on the stupidity of the mistake. Like Celes - and honestly, even moreso - she knew Kefka's ways.

Celes nodded, a quick curt gesture. "Only doubted me 'for a moment', he said. As if it were an inconsequential thing. As if it did not give Kefka the advantage at a crucial point. I betrayed the Empire. So of course it is possible I would also betray the Returners."

Terra shook her head. "No. It's not. When you make up your mind it stays made up." There was a hint in her voice both of sorrow and respect. Terra tended to doubt everything. They'd both been right, and wrong, at different times as a result.

Celes turned then, a hint of a relieved smile playing about her lips.


	67. Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Out"

Given the awkwardness of the previous night, the boat ride to Thamasa was largely silent. Celes sat with Terra, watching the waves cut by the prow of the ship.

Locke approached, somewhere between apologetic and annoyed. "It was a mistake," he began. "Just a moment's worth of gut reaction. It doesn't mean I _really_ think you're a traitor, Celes. Or that I don't care. About you. And I thought maybe, when this is over, we..."

Celes just watched him, her expression blank and unchanging throughout his little speech.

Terra, however, looked Locke in the eyes, and pointedly took Celes' hand.


	68. Only You Can Prevent Burned Houses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "History"

"And you never worried about the potential of starting another Mage War?" asked Terra, running her hands over the burnt timber. The house had been whole yesterday. A Thamasan child with fire magic had gotten carried away. Now, flames doused, they were picking over the remains to see what could be salvaged.

Celes shook her head. "I was augmented as an infant. Raised, like Leo, with the power." Moving a large chunk of wall, she retrieved unbroken decorations beneath. "Unlike the children here, Leo and I were raised to think we had to set a good example in its use."


	69. Toxicity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the aftermath of the battle in the snowfields above Narshe.

Terra's breaths were uneven, shaking as Celes settled a blanket around her shoulders. "I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't think it would be this bad."

"You did well," said Celes simply. "Fighting armies in snowfields is not something most people can do at all. You did. And you won. Against Kefka." As if to emphasize her approval, she set a mug of hot cocoa in Terra's hands.

"He was smiling at me," said Terra, her voice trembling. "I could see what he would do to me if he won."

Celes smiled a small, fierce smile. "But he did not win."


	70. On Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Faith"

The fire burned easily; the only thing there was no shortage of, anymore, were dead dry things to burn. Sabin tossed a few more handfuls of dry grass onto it. "Do you really think they're out there?"

"You were," Celes pointed out. "If we survived the breaking of the world, I have faith that the rest of us survived as well."

Sabin did not smile. "I always thought...well. Edgar and me. I always thought if something happened to him, wouldn't I _know_? But I don't. How do you?"

"Terra is alive," said Celes firmly. "And I hold faith Edgar is too." _If only because there is a limit to luck_ , she did not add. One did not wish a man - even a highly aggravating man - dead in front of his twin.

Sabin surveyed the decayed, starlit landscape. So inhospitable even monsters were having a hard time surviving it. He'd been stunned - in a good way - that even Celes had survived the apocalypse. Of course, the question of 'how long' remained unanswered. "I'll take you at your word," he decided.

"They're out there," said Celes. She had not crossed an ocean on a raft to fail now.


	71. Miracles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Luck"

"Do you ever think about how impossible we are?" asked Terra, leaning back.

Celes put her arms around Terra, obliging. "A miracle is what seems impossible, but happens anyway. If we're going to count the miracles we've lived through, we will be here till dawn."

Terra tilted her head back, grinning up at Celes. "That's what I mean. It's impossible. All of it. But it happened."

"I wouldn't discount our choices along the way," Celes pointed out, kissing Terra's nose. "On the whole, I do not believe in luck. But I have come to wonder if Luck believes in us."


	72. The Inner Face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Mask"

"I wouldn't," Terra warned.

Celes picked up the mask anyway. Shadow had several, she knew. Cloth could absorb only so much blood, sweat and spit before even the hardiest soul was driven to wash it. This one was practically rigid with it.

"I could set it on fire?" Terra offered hopefully, wrinkling her nose.

"No," sighed Celes, and tossed it toward the shore of the lake, where it had been before the wind caught it. "Let him wash it. I think it does not hide as much as he hopes it does."

"Masks rarely do," Terra agreed. "But still. _Ew._ "


	73. Uncertain Motive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Outsider POV"

"Don't," warned Cyan calmly.

"But - Terra's still getting her memories back, and Kefka -" Locke began.

"Kefka is a madman," said Cyan with absolute certainty. "Terra trusts her."

"That's the problem," sighed Locke. "She doesn't know. She doesn't remember yet. But we do. I'm glad Celes changed sides, but she's still the Butcher of Maranda."

"Whom you have _also_ promised to protect," Cyan observed. "It would seem that in protecting each other, they halve your workload."

Locke rubbed the back of his neck. He wasn't sure _what_ he really thought of Celes, yet. "But-"

"Don't," reepated Cyan, firmly.


	74. Choice and Treason

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Cut"

Celes had an elaborate sword-maintenance ritual. Since she used her blades to catch magic, it was even more involved than Cyan's. She could spend two hours sharpening and oiling her blades easily.

Terra usually matched her work for about fifteen minutes, and then draped herself across Celes' shoulders, meditating. But when Locke approached, she instinctively led him away. Celes had been brittle, since the reunion. 

Terra could guess why, and a lot of it had to do with Locke. Who looked, if anything, like he was trying to explain a bad quiz score to his parents. "Um. I just wanted to -"

"Say you're sorry you accused Celes of treason in front of everyone, when she hadn't done anything to deserve it?" Terra finished.

Locke flinched, frowned. "I didn't. And she _had_. She did betray the Empire."

"I think you forget that I did, too," said Terra.

"But that was different!" said Locke. "They were using you. Controlling you."

Terra just tilted her head. Watched him. Waited.

"It's _not_ the same," Locke insisted. "She could choose."

"She says that too," said Terra. "But I'm not as sure. If your choice is 'do the thing' or 'die', and you've been taught all your life that your whole duty is to obey..."

"She still had a choice," Locke insisted. "It wasn't out of line for me to believe Kefka." And he stopped right there because really, no one in hearing would cut a guy a break for believing anything Kefka said.

"Yes," said Terra. "But she chose to be executed for disobeying. She couldn't pick the locks. She wouldn't have escaped at all if you hadn't turned up. _You_ can be a Returner and it's just risk, it's not fixed. She chose to _die_ rather than obey and _you're_ questioning _her_ loyalty."


	75. Seeds in the Barren Garden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Home"

Imperial Generals did not have homes. Celes was fairly sure this was true. Kefka certainly hadn't. Leo'd never found the time. Terra had had no choice in the matter and Celes had been as busy as Leo. Really, it'd never crossed her mind.

Which was probably a good thing, because Mobliz - sans all the adults and about half the buildings - was not what she would have pictured as being 'home' anyway.

But what made a home was love, and Terra had that in spades. For Celes, for all the orphans, for all the world. It took frightened orphan children in a disaster zone of a town and planted gardens, herded chocobos. Repaired roofs and mended fences. And all right, hands and sturdy backs had a role to play too, but it was _powered_ by love.

Terra's love made sitting wrapped in a chocobo-down blanket by a fire, enough children piled on her to make it a feat just to shift position, the most strangely comforting sensation Celes could remember. It made hearing the same bedtime story told for the forty-ninth time something to smile over.

It made no sense to Celes, but to Terra, it didn't have to.


End file.
